Arabic meets Austrian coffee culture – the Viennese coffee roasters Bieder & Maier now rely on a new blend with beans from the Kingdom of Arabia. After the presentation in Vienna, the founders now also presented the project in the Middle East. One of the ‘door openers’ was former Minister of Economic Affairs Margarete Schramböck.
There are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Since 2011, Viennese coffee house culture has been an official cultural heritage, later Arabic coffee and the special Saudi Khawlani Arabica beans were added. That was also the reason for the collaboration, as Rudi Kobza, founder of Bieder & Maier, explains: “Saudi Arabia is a country that is very open to other cultures. There is a certain sympathy for Austria here.”
The Bieder & Maier Vienna Coffee Company, founded in 2018, wants to gain global fame through its collaboration with the Kingdom. Local partner Saudi Coffee Company is also committed to promoting Saudi coffee culture; Bieder & Maier is the first brand with which the Saudis collaborate. Saudi Arabian coffee is currently only sold domestically. The expansion is expected to significantly increase the quantity produced, from 300 to 2,500 tons.
Coffee houses planned in Saudi Arabia
The coffee “blend” will also be heavily promoted in Saudi Arabia. Bieder & Maier will open numerous coffee houses in franchise with Cenomi – where Austrian Günther Helm was the boss until March – from the autumn, with the first opening in the capital Riyadh in the autumn. Helm was still involved in the collaboration at the time and former minister Margarete Schramböck, who is active as a manager in Saudi Arabia, was also a ‘door opener’.
In Austria, the mixture will be available for the first time in about six weeks exclusively at Vienna Airport and in the summer also in a pop-up at the Grand Hotel Vienna – for tasting, but take-away packs will also be available are. The café at Vienna Airport was voted the best airport café in the world in 2023. “With every cup of Bieder & Maier, the culture and economy of Austria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are linked,” says founder Rudi Kobza, also known as head of a PR agency.
There are two types on the market
Specifically, the new flavor is called “Bieder & Maier Premium Saudi Blend”. The Saudi Coffee Company will supply Bieder & Maier with local Saudi Arabica beans in the coming years. The Viennese coffee professionals then blend the beans with Arabica beans from all over the world and roast them. In concrete terms, there is a strong roast with beans from Brazil and Nicaragua, but also a light variant that is supplemented with Ethiopian and Honduran beans.
The price of the 250 gram package should be around 10 to 12 euros. Saudi coffee will also be available in the online shop. Kobza’s goal is that coffee drinkers all over the world can enjoy the blend in the future: “We are already present with Bieder & Maier in Japan, Germany and England. In the future, we want to market our Saudi Blend there, among other things, as an addition to our current range.”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
